Brett I should shoot mine as well but have never gotten around to it. I have both the std and fwt and the fwt is IMHO about useless. The shorter barrel just barks and performance isn't as good as my 270.

Rich some day you aught to try that M70 264 Featherweight on deer. Max velocity from the 22" FWT barrel might be about the same as your 270 (with similar bullet weights), but the 264's twist rate is 10% faster (1 in 9 versus 1 in 10 for the 270). The increased rpm’s and centrifugal force effect on the bullet when it strikes make it a deadly gun on whitetails and similar game. I've used a 264 Featherweight and I'm speaking from hunting experience. The muzzle blast wasn’t factor for me with the few shots taken while hunting.

Edgar, not CCI but the old Winchester Super X shells with the crimped nose. Work realy good.

Bill, I know just which shells you mean, and I know I shot up the last I had. As I remember, they barely tickled the squirrels. The CCI with the blue capsule ends, are very hot in comparison.

Edgar, a somewhat funny story about the gun and those shells. Wehad a bird feeder just outside our kitchen window. One day whem my grand daughter was visiting, a squirrel was on the feeder. I figured, like you, that I would only tickle the squirrel so I took the 61 and loaded a shotshell and told my grand daughter that I was going to scare him. I quietly went outside and peaked around the corner of the house. He was still on the feeder. Pulled up and shot--about 20 feet. Killed him deader than a doornail. Luckily, my grand daughter took it in stride. I was more shoked than her. Shortly thereafter, I targeted the gun and shot on a rusty 50 gallon drum. After seeing the pattern I knew what happened.

I had a similar experience, with the same fatal results.
I had always just dusted the little buggers, and finally ran out of the old crimp-nose shells. I bought a pack (expensive) and figured the same results were a given. Knocked him off the top of the feeder, and dead when he hit the ground. I kinda felt bad. Squirrels and I have an understanding; this is a game, and the winner is the one who controls the feeders. I've just gotten the feeders out, now that the bears have bunked down, and they were sitting on the top, laughing, the first day. There's a slinky with a plastic funnel on the bottom end. That keeps then from climbing up the pole, pushing the slinky. So they learned to jump onto the slinky above the funnel. So far I'm in the lead, because I just raise the funnel up so they can jump onto the slinky from the ground. I figure that bought me a few days at best.

Dean, it's not all that old; 1978. I agree it does have a nice stick of wood compared to many.